I visited Manchester a couple of months ago with my Mum for some Christmas shopping – lucky me eh? Unfortunately, I was struck down with a horrible headcold  at the time but I tried not to let my view of the city be coloured by feeling so crap.  We had a great time and came home with one too many ‘bargains’, a new found love of mini eat natural bars and a serious overload of quality mother/daughter time (love you mum!! ).

As usual, I did some homework beforehand to see what kind of gluten free culinary delights I could look forward too. I used the Coeliac UK website and Visit Manchester to get an idea of some restaurants that would cater for me. I have to say I was surprised that the information online was fairly limited for Manchester, I was expecting a lot more given the size of the city. Overall, the usual rules apply ; breakfast can be tricky so stock up and fruit/GF cereal bars but once you’ve done some research and rung ahead, you’ll have no problem getting lunch and dinner.

I found the following places absolutely fantastic for coeliacs. We were staying in central Manchester near the Arndale Shopping centre and all of these places are within walking distance.

Dough Pizza Kitchen

This was probably one of the places I was most excited about visiting as they have offer their full pizza menu gluten free and the reviews were great. We both ordered pizzas (Duck for my mum and the Chilli Chicken GF for me) and they didn’t disappoint. The GF base was a lovely texture and really tasty and it didn’t at all feel like I was eating a piece of cardboard which is so often the case. I would only advise going with my pizza selection if you have a high constitution for spice, it cleared my blocked nose that’s for sure! Highly recommended for any coeliac visiting Manchester. Prices are reasonable and it has a nice relaxed vibe. We went on a Monday night and it was very busy so I would book to avoid disappointment.

 

Sweet Mandarin

You may have seen the sauces from Sweet Mandarin on sale in your local supermarket and you may also recognise the name from the company being a participant on the UK Dragons Den. Well, the restaurant in Manchester is where it all started. A full GF marked menu is available with plenty of options which is really unusual for a Chinese restaurant. We went for a quick bite before the cinema and the food was great as well as being very reasonably priced.


 

Las Iguanas

I visted this place for lunch as I needed something more filling than a salad. It’s a Latin inspired and a full GF menu is available. The server was also extremely helpful and knowledgeable about cross contamination eg. I couldn’t eat the fries. They did a great value lunch menu including a drink. There are multiple locations.


 

A not so good experience was had at Michael Caines at the Abode hotel.

My mum had booked this as a treat in advance and had let them know I was a coeliac. We opted for the 5 course tasting menu on arrival after reaffirming my requirements. The food was delicious apart from the bread which was not home made and arrived about 10 minutes after the normal bread. This would signal defrosting and reheating had occurred, poor form for a fine dining restaurant. Unfortunately the service wasn’t very good either and as a different server brought us almost every dish, I had to keep querying if it was okay for me to eat what I was being served.

Often this resulted in double checking with the chef and as a result I was apprehensive about eating throughout the meal. I was also ill within 2 hours of leaving the restaurant which would lead me to believe that everything I ate wasn’t suitable. I followed up with Michael Caines when I returned home and while they retain the belief that everything I was served was suitable for me, I think fellow coeliacs will agree that we know when we have been glutened and I most certainly was. They did however respond very respectfully to me and confirmed they would be taking my comments on board regarding the overall experience and the service received.  A gesture was also offered to myself and my mum.

Due to the experience I had, I couldn’t recommend Michael Caines for fellow coeliacs but the food really was amazing.

Some chains that I didn’t visit in Manchester but I know have GF options/menus would be Bella Italia, Milano and Wagamama. I see from recent updates that Caffe Nero has launched gluten free sandwiches in conjunction with Genius which is great news. I had coffee there a few times and at the time they only had crisps and brownies which I could have.

Enjoy your time in Manchester!